I am with you Ms. Piglet......now back to genealogy.....Sure hope that someone can help me out here....this is my brick wall for the past 18yrs. Kind of lengthy but bear with me please. I am wondering if anyone can help me out with finding about my John Ball. Here are my notes on him and his wife and children. John was born in 1857 at Kentucky. He married Delphia (--?--) on January 27, 1876 at Daviess Co., Missouri. She was born in 1840 (making her 17 years older than John). Both of John's parents were born in Kentucky according to census records. He is listed as a farmer in 1880 census. John had 2 stepchildren....Benjamin and Mary Bennett (both born in Missouri and both of their parents also born in Missouri). I have no idea who Delphia was married to prior to her marriage to John Ball but I do know that his last name was Bennett. Supposedly John and Delphia Ball, with their family, moved to Osceola, St. Clair, Missouri when Virgil and Clarence were quite young. John and Delphia died there when Clarence was about 11 or 12 (according to Clarence), but I have never found any proof of this. It is information that has been passed down through the years. There is a possibility that John may have had relatives in St. Clair County as I have found Ball's living in the area, but I do not know this for sure. He also lived in Ray County for a time, leading me to believe that he might also be related to the Balls of Ray County. Clarence's brother, Virgil supposedly finished raising Clarence after John and Delphia's death. According to another tip that I have received..... "The Kentucky BALLs seem to come from the Virginia line of BALLs. There is no known connection between that line and the New Jersey Ball line of Edward. The Virginia line produced Mary Ball, mother of George Washington" I have received information that my John Ball descended from Mary Ball, however......I have found NO connection as of yet to Mary Ball. Heck!!! I can't even get back past John Ball must less make it back to Mary Ball !!! Information on John and Delphia's children: A. Virgil Ball may have settled around Osceola, Missouri. He was born in 1877 at Richmond, Ray Co., Missouri. My mother remembers hearing relatives speak about Osceola, St. Clair, Missouri and also about Nodaway County, Missouri. B. Clarence Ball was born on April 2, 1880 at Richmond, Ray Co., Missouri. He appeared on the census of 1900 in the household of John Allsup at Daviess Co., Missouri as a laborer. He married Mary Ellen Heitman, daughter of Jacob Heitman and Anna E. Lapier. He appeared on the census of 1910 in the household of Jacob Heitman and Anna E. Lapier at St. Joseph, Buchanan Co., Missouri. He died on December 3, 1948 at St.Joseph, Buchanan Co., Missouri, at age 68. He always said that his parents died when he was young. Most of the children of Clarence and Mary Ellen died of heart conditions. Not sure who Louis is. 1910 Census showed him as a son, but Dorothy Ball Hicks (daughter of Clarence) says that there was never a son by this name. Perhaps he is actually the son of Jacob and Anna Heitman. Please let me know if anyone thinks they have a connection to any of the above persons. Again....sorry that this is so very long. Patsy Carnoali